Long Awaited Resolution

Once upon a time there was a little girl who had a lot of older siblings who played basketball.  One day she was attending yet another game when she realized she had a few coins in her pocket.  Oh joyous discovery!  She could buy some M&M's!  Hoorah!  She took her little self down to the concession stand and purchased a bright yellow bag of peanut M&M's.  Little drops of chocolate heaven where hers.  Upon tearing the paper package open, something amazing happened.  There were words printed inside it.  She had won!  Alas, not the ten thousand dollars that was advertised on the wrapper front, but she did win another package of M&M's.  Happy day!  She flew back down to the concession stand to claim her bounty.  The non-athletic teen who got stuck working concessions briefly explained she could not have another bag of candy from him.  Instead she would have to follow the directions on the wrapper and mail in to claim her prize.

The little girl carefully folded the wrapper up.  The next day she painstakingly followed the directions on the wrapper.  She carefully printed her name and address on a notecard and put it in an envelope with the wrapper.  Then she walked to the local post office and dropped it in the mail.  Then the waiting began.  Every day she checked the mail, hoping for a package of chocolaty goodness.  Each day crawled by and there was still no prize.  Eventually she became interested in other things and ceased to look for her beloved prize which never came.  She eventually forgot her disappointment and was able to move on with her life.

One day, close to thirty years later, her children asked her if she had ever won anything as a child.  The long forgotten image of tearing open a yellow paper candy package rushed back to her.  After sharing her heartbreaking story, her children teasingly told her to contact the company and see if they would fulfill their once broken promise.  The matronly woman laughed and said maybe she would.

Then, one day, when the children weren't begging for her attention, she decided to see what would happen if she did tell the chocolate company her sad story.  She wrote a brief email and thought no more of it.  Two days later she received an email apologizing for her "childhood disappointment".  Then a week later she received a coupon in the mail.

I can now afford to buy THREE bags of M&M's!  My childhood disappointment has finally been satisfied.  Oh sweet chocolaty denouement.

Heartbreak

Sometimes life gives you an unexpected joy.  Then, just a few months later, you make a little shelf for your treasure, it gets bumped, and your joy comes crashing down.

Ethan's kindle screen shattered at a strategic point and is now a frozen screen.  Amazon was not willing to repair it but offered me a few bucks off a $300 model.  I did not take them up on their oh-so-generous offer.

Ethan is back to saving and hoping.

Family Photos

Once every five years of so, we actually take some family photos.  We were planning on having someone take them for us, but once again it was just easier to grab a tripod, Michael's camera, and have Michael take them.

Traveling

Michael has done a lot of traveling for work lately.  He has been running and running.  He was tired, I was tired, the kids were tired of me being tired.  He got a few days at home but then he had to support a conference in Twin Falls on Saturday.  His employer was putting him up in a hotel and renting a car for him because he had to be there at seven in the morning.  After a little debate, and finding out the room had two queen size beds, we decided to make it a family trip.

We loaded in the rented Suburban, packed it to the roof with Michael's equipment, and hit the road.  Oh, my...I fell in love.  I have never wanted a Suburban.  They guzzle gas, are the size of a tank, and are simply much, much more car than I need.  But it was so lovely.  Even though the back row of seats was roughly a mile behind me, the kids could still hear me from the front seat without me raising my voice, even on the freeway.  My van is significantly noisier.  It rode smoothly, everyone had plenty of room and the sound system was great.  It was magnificent.

Once we got to the hotel the kids headed straight for the pool.  They were so excited to stay at a hotel with a pool.  The last time we took the kids to a hotel Ethan was six.  This was a big deal for them. 

They even got to go in the hot tub because there is no lifeguard!  Life was incredible.   After swimming the kids decided to watch some prime cable cartoons.  Later Ethan stated he did not like cable and would much rather watch Netflix.  Oh, the life of a kid spoiled by no commercials. 

 Hanging out, watching some shows, putting dirty foot prints on the pristine bed.

The next morning Michael left for work at six thirty.  The kids woke shortly thereafter and we wandered downstairs for a free continental breakfast.  With waffles! And sausage (the kids happily partook)! And muffins!  And orange juice!  They couldn't have asked for more.  After breakfast we went swimming again.  Then we had second breakfast. Hooray for more muffins. Sam cried when we checked out of the hotel.  He wanted to stay forever.

We left the hotel and I drove the tank of a Suburban down to a park at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon.  It was a smooth ride but that thing is huge.  I was so glad that it came with a back up camera. We had lunch, played on a sad little playground, and watched the river.

 It was beautiful but the kids were pretty quickly bored.

We then headed to the Herrett Center at the College of Southern Idaho.  After driving around the campus for some time, we finally found it.  The museum was completely free and it was pretty awesome.

Attached to the museum is a Planetarium.  It is not free but I knew it would help keep us busy until Michael got done.  We watched a poorly acted, but riveting for the kids, cartoon about space.  The movie was of course projected on the domed ceiling and entailed a lot of camera movement.  Libby said it was better than any 3D movie she had ever seen (I didn't know that she had seen any 3D movies) because it was so realistic.  For my part, I kept my eyes closed for most of it.  The swooping and closeups were making me feel sick. We did learn what is needed to support life and that no other place in our Solar System has what we need. After the movie we still had an hour to kill.

We wandered back into the museum to see what we had missed.  This puzzle took a good portion of the time.  See those pieces?  None of them are interlocking.  They are all these free form cut outs.  It was the hardest 81 piece puzzle I have ever put together.  But it did take up a large chunk of time for which I was thankful.

We then picked up Michael, who was suffering and miserable from his hay fever, grabbed some milkshakes from Culver's, and headed home.

A couple days after we got home we looked up the MSRP of that Suburban we were driving: $67,000!!!!  GAH.  I'm glad I didn't know how much it cost before I drove it around town - I would have been too nervous to even put the key in the ignition.  I decided I really love my paid-off minivan.  She's a good minivan.

Good News!!

I found my camera.  After I tore the house and car apart multiple times Michael found it in the glove box of the car.  Where I had looked, fourteen times.

I'm glad he found it or I may have forgotten that the Museum of Ancient History had the Colosseum made entirely out of balloons.  That is a fact that should never be forgotten.

Also, there were a lot of dinosaurs.  I don't think we will forget that part.